Piece of Cake
by minitsundere
Summary: From Tumblr Prompt: It's the day after regionals and something just isn't sitting right with Rin, but what could it be? He had reunited with his friends, and got to swim with them again, so what was the problem? And then it hits him; he hadn't done anything to thank Rei properly for his act of kindness, and he just wasn't about to let Rei's favor go unrecognized and unappreciated.


They won! Rin couldn't believe it. Not only did he finally got to swim with his team again, but he also got to win with them as a bonus. He couldn't help but cry as he hugged Haru, Makoto and Nagisa. They were going to the nationals, the nationals that felt so far away, almost like a dream, but now it's in an arm's reach. After the mini reunion-celebration, they all went home, exhausted of today's event. Though, Rin doesn't know why he feels like something's missing. He can't shake off the fact that without that something, he couldn't have achieved what happened today.

Within a blink of an eye, he was alone on the edge of Samezuka's pool. He observed his surroundings, confirming that nothing's out of the ordinary. A gleam of light from the opposite side caught his attention. He squinted his eyes trying to decipher the figure swimming toward him. As the figure got closer and more visible, the first thing he noticed were purple wings? _What the Hell? Was he high on Chlorine or something? Because weird shit is happening._

Rin moved cautiously away from the edge of the pool, still observing the thing that was drawing near him. Rin's eyes widened at the person who came out of the pool. Said person had blue hair, brilliant purple irises, and only had a speedo to cover himself, not to mention those embarrassing wings. He knows this person, he really looks familiar, he's the one thing that was missing. The person had crossed his arms and was glaring at him.

"Watching you irritates me so much!", the person let out an annoyed huff.

'Hey!', Rin's voice won't come out. Everything was fading away. He has so much to say to him. Why was he going away?

"REI!", Rin woke up with a start, he wiped away the few tears that built up on his eyes.

"Matsuoka-senpai, are you alright?", Nitori asked, sleepily peeking from the top bunk.

"I'm okay, go back to sleep. Sorry, I woke you up."

Rin didn't get a response, because Nitori quickly got knocked out after knowing that Rin was alright.

"I didn't get to thank Rei.", he groaned as he put his arm to cover his eyes.

"He did so much for me. No, for the team..."

Rin couldn't get any sleep that night. He knows that he needs to thank Rei in someway. He was switching positions every 5 mins. Thinking on how he should thank him without getting embarrassed and say stupid things he doesn't mean.

'I got it! I'll just leave some cake on his doorstep...'

If Rin could pat himself on the back for a job well done, he'd do it. Rin looked at the clock, 3:17 am, 'Dammit, I should get some sleep.'

~Time Sklip~

Rin came out of the cake shop, both confident at the cake that he bought and nervous about doing something like this.

'What if he won't like the cake, and he'll just give it to Nagisa? Or worse, he'll throw it away...Fuck! I don't even know where he lives!' Rin was angry at himself for forgetting something that important. He didn't even notice that he was glaring at passerbys until the old man from the cake shop tapped him on the shoulder and politely told him to 'get the fuck away from his shop because he's scaring the customers.' He just glared at the old man and walked away with his scowl in tact.

'Great idea, Matsuoka. Your such a genius for thinking to leave cake on someone's doorstep without knowing where that doorstep is.' He sat on a bench placed outside a convenience store. He contemplated whether to call Rei where he lived, 'Because calling him for his address wouldn't be creepy!', or just call Gou and suffer teasing for a few months (or years). Either way he'd lose, so he called Gou.

_"Hello?"_

_"Kou, it's Rin."_

_"Big Brother! How are you? Is everything alright?"_

_"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok... Uhm... It's about Rei."_

_"What about him? I gave you his number a few days ago right? You can just talk to him, he's very understanding, but don't be mean, k?"_

_"..."_

_"Onii-chan, why did you call about Rei?"_

_"..."_

Rin doesn't want to answer her. His face's probably 90 degrees now. He inhales and lets out a defeated sigh.

_"Uhm...By any chance, do you know where lives?"_

_"...nii-chan_..."

Rin was going to hang the phone call and eat the cake by himself.

_"Don't hang up!"_

_"Kou, if you don't know, just say so."_

_"I know! Just answer this; why do you need it?"_

_"Ugh... I-I need to thank him."_

_"By going to his house? Ok, I trust you. You should call Nagisa, he knows Rei's address."_

_" You lied to me! I don't know his number!"_

_"He'll call you. *giggles*"_

_"I'm gonna call you Gou the next time I see you."_

_"You won't."_

Rin hang up, but his phone rang again.

_"Who are you and what do you want?"_

_"Rin-chan! What a rude greeting, and I thought you'd be happy to hear from me."_

Rin can practically hear the pout in the call.

_"So?"_

_"So, what?"_

_"Why did you call?"_

_"Ah! Gou-chan said you need to talk to me."_

_"...Gou...Didn't she tell you already?"_

_"Nope."_

He didn't sign-up for this humiliation. Gou tricked him, and recommended him to ask Nagisa. He should've just called Rei.

_"Don't tell anyone I asked you about this, alright?"_

_"Sure, Rin-chan!"_

_"Promise?"_

_"Pinky swear!"_

_"Ok...Do you know Rei's address?"_

_"Of course!"_

_"Can you send it to me?"_

_"Why?"_

_"Because I need it."_

_"Why?"_

_"...because...I-Iwanttothankhim."_

_"What was that?"_

_"...I need to thank him for what he did..."_

_"Hmmm...I'll ask haru-chan and mako-chan's permission first."_

_"What?! Nagisa, you little sh-"_

_"Ah-ah, please wait while I call them."_

And that was how Rin found out Rei's address, he received some 'if you hurt Rei' threats from his childhood friends. He doesn't know why they think he'll hurt Rei, but at least he got what he needed.

It's been two hours since he bought the cake, he was worried that it melted and looked like mush. He couldn't back out now with all the trouble he went through just to get here. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket and wrote 'Thank you' and drew a shark doodle. He smiled to himself. A bit satisfied at his work, he placed the

note on the door mat and the cake box on top of it. He was about to ring the doorbell and run for his life, when the door opened.

"Rin-san?"

Rin froze at his name.

"Rei?"

"What are you doing here..."

Rei looked at his watch, it read 6:30 pm.

"at this hour?"

Rin tried to calm his beating heart. He was just surprised. It didn't have anything to do with Rei being attractive all of the sudden. He played it cooly as he can.

"I was in the neighbourhood, I didn't know you live here."

"Oh, so what's in the box in front of you? If you were planning to prank people, please make sure you don't get caught."

"I wasn't going to do that!"

"Uh-huh. Then, open it."

"No. YOU open it."

"Why me?"

"...because it's for you."

Rin controlled his lips not to curl up from the cute scene in front of him; Rei blushing. He just looked away.

Rei picked up the box and looked inside, it was cake. He appreciated it for its beautiful, moist, and definitely drool-worthy features, but he's not a hard-core fan of sweets compared to Makoto, so he closed the box.

"It's low-fat blueberry cheesecake." Rin mumbled at sidelines.

Rei slightly glanced at him, then took a look at the note. He smiled fondly at the simple note.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"'Cause...you just gave up your place in the relay...for us"

"I did it because it was the only logical solution to make things right. You don't need to thank me."

Rei just freaking smiled at him, like it wasn't a big deal. Like it was normal to give up your rightful place to an asshole-of-a-stranger. That it's ok to be a genius and an idiot at the same time_._

"Rei, you're so stupid!"

"Rin-san!?"

Rin put both of his hands on Rei's shoulder and bowed his head.

"I don't deserve this happiness! But you gave it to me anyway. I don't know how to ever to thank you for what you did. Its difficult. I don't even deserve to know you! Why didn't you just punch me? I deserve all my pain for being selfish, but you took it all away."

Rin was crying. Rei just stood their quietly listening, but he couldn't take it anymore, and hugged Rin. Rin just cried a bit harder, though he eventually calmed down, and fell asleep in Rei's embrace.

"Rin-san, you're really a handful." Rei chuckled as quietly as he can.

Fortunately, he was alone for the weekend, he placed Rin in his bed and tucked him in. The cake was put into the refrigerator, and the note by his coffee table. After dinner, he took out a futon and glanced to Rin. He look a bit closer and noticed the dark circles around each of Rin's eyes.

"I'm sorry if what happened kept you up."

Rin stirred a bit from his sleep, shifting closer to Rei. Rei kept quiet and observed further. He leaned into Rin and kissed his forehead.

"Everybody deserves happiness. I found my mine in you."

A/N: So let me explain the "you" of the last sentence. It was supposed to be "...you and the team." But my shipper heart and sleep-deprived mind told me to just stick with "you" because it seems romantic and the conflict started with Rin going to Australia which leads to Nagisa recruited Rei. So yeah! I hope you enjoyed my 1st fic for the year 2014 :) If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me


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